Blooming Flower
by Cryssy-miu
Summary: Sometimes the preciousness in life is something we forget to appreciate and something we take for granted. Little do Fluttershy and Discord know, they are about to be reminded of that. Chapter 2: A visit from Twilight, and a recollection.
1. Chapter 1

Every step made her belly throb and ache and whine for some morsel of food, big or small, just anything to please its desperate demands. Her parched throat burned, feeling as dry as the hottest desert. Her limbs trembled and ached, but she continued stumbling.

_Ponyville. _She hadn't ever been there – that she remembered anyways, but she was sure there was plenty of food for her to eat. Surely there were unattended gardens and berry bushes somewhere. Her belly and heart feeling slightly lighter, she galloped down into the bustling town.

xxxxxxxx

"Oh, Discord, come on!" Fluttershy squealed in distress, trying to grab onto her new set of dazzling plates before they became bananas and pineapples. Like a stingy child, she grabbed onto and tightly held the surviving plates, pressing them tightly to her chest and drawing up her knees.

The impish spirit hovered above her, talon raised threateningly, pointed towards her new favorite rose decorated plate. At seeing this, the pegasus latched her mouth onto her trusty feather duster tightly, challenging the spirit. Discord's face fell in dread, but after a few minutes he turned the remaining plates into food.

Fluttershy whined as she felt the stabbing poke from the prickly pineapple, felt the smooth banana peel, and...chocolate? She stared flatly as he swiped the banana and chocolate from her arms, casually peeling it and taking a large bite of both.

"Do you know what tastes good together? Banana and chocolate; it is simply deeeeeeeee-vine~!" He fell onto his back in the air, cackling like an idiot – only to give a yelping squeal as the pegasus tackled him, over the couch, and onto the hard floor. Discord gave a squeaking snicker as the tip of those evil feathers barely brushed against his side, but he managed to wriggle free and take to the air, Fluttershy following.

"Do you have any idea how much those plates cost?" Fluttershy exclaimed, voice sounding funny and muffled with the duster in her mouth. "They were the last in stock!" She captured the spirit's tail in her mouth, squeaking as he shook her up and down to try and get rid of her.

"Why spend so much money on plates when you can simply buy a bunch of bananas? They're far more fun~!"

"Plates aren't meant to be fun – they're meant to hold your food!"

"Use your hoof to do that~!" The spirit was already in giggling hysterics by just how annoyed and flustered he was getting his favorite pony. Fluttershy managed to corner him, pressing him against the wall and preparing to unleash her feather dusty, tickly, unrelenting wrath on him, when Angel frantically thumped on the door.

Discord's silly grin fell, eyes narrowing at the beast that glared right back at him. He hated that rodenty-thing; if it was up to him they'd already have eaten their first plate of bunny stew. Although he was relieved that feathered fiend was nowhere near his sensitive skin now, the draconequus heavily sulked when Fluttershy hurried over to the bunny.

"Oh no! Are you sure?" Discord rolled his eyes at whatever dramatic thing that had happened – it was probably nothing; it usually was. Fluttershy was already on her way out the door, much to the exasperated spirit's annoyance. "I'll be right back, Discord. Angel just told me there's a baby bird that fell from its nest!" She had already galloped out the door.

That pony and her dumb, sappy-wappy kindness. He hated when his fun was ended just because a dumb animal needed de-sicking. Of course, he didn't have much right to complain about it. If it wasn't for her 'sappy-wappy kindness' he'd probably be back in stone, and or dead. Still, what was so important about a stupid baby bird that they had to interrupt their fun – HIS fun? The mother could probably tend to it.

Pouting, the spirit looked out the window, where Fluttershy was tenderly, soothingly running a hoof over the fluffy-wuffy, spindly little hatchling's fuzzy head and helping it back up into the tree.

Discord hung upside down from the ceiling like a bat, rubbing his beard in deep thought. Oh, the walls could use a nice make over. Maybe butterscotch coated instead of a blucky pink? The floor could do with some chaos. Snickering, Discord flew down, closer the the floor, intending on bringing some nice chaos to surprise his favorite pony with when she came back in.

xxxxxxxx

The morning hadn't gone too great for the little filly. She was unable to steal food from the pony merchants, even though the gleaming dewy vegetables had been sticking right out of the wooden carts. When she reached for a pastry a unicorn gave her the most frightening glare. Hungry, tired, and sore the teary eyed girl cantered to the outskirts of town.

In the clearing of some trees, past the paper leaves she saw the little cottage, and she saw its owner with her back turned, helping some wiggling creature on the ground. The outside of the cottage had its own beautiful garden with lettuce and carrots and even some fruit vines. The cottage just screamed food. Already her mouth was watering.

Quickly, the little filly took the opportunity with the older pagasus's back turned, and she skittered over the grass, up the grassy hill, turning every so often to see if the pony had turned. Satisfied she was in the clear, the child hopped through an open window.

Placid, sweet little cottage on the outside and literally sweet on the inside! The walls were dripping with Discord's butterscotch, and the floor was icing sugar! She dove her face into the sweet mounts of white, lapping up the saccharine crystals. Her attention was directed to the fridge in a far room that seemed to just gleam and invite her over.

Hurriedly, the young pegasus scurried over to the fridge, throwing it wide open, drool dripping to her hooves and her legs weak when she saw all its beautiful contents. The filly directed her attention to a heaping plate of chocolate cream donuts, gathering as many as she could into a pile on the floor.

She gave a suppressed little squeak of horror as a brute force latched onto her tangled, filthy orange tail and lifted her up by her rear. The filly's jaws clamped down harder on the chocolate donuts, sinking her little teeth into the soft, buttery bread, the chocolate cream filling her mouth.

"Well, well, well," Discord sing-songed quietly under his breath, leering crimson orbs piercing through the frightened child's heart. "What does spot my eye? A wandering thief, it seems." He casually held the squirming and bucking tot, rubbing his goatee in deep thought. "Stealing at such a young age. You know, I would be proud if it wasn't for the fact you're stealing _our _food!"

The child tried not to show her sheer terror at gazing at this mismatched, frightening monster - a creature she hadn't ever seen. She tried to kick the beast in his twisted muzzle, but Discord only held her further away from him.

He examined the baby pony, who looked to be no older than three judging by her size. Twisting the girl around in his talon he spotted her little wings; one only half formed, shriveled, and weakly flapping. Holding the baby up more at eye level the spirit realized that, although her body structure was stubby and frail, her face looked older than a toddler. Ah, a dwarf pony.

"My food!" Discord exclaimed, staring at the chocolate coated pastries clenched between the brat's teeth. His favorite food that Fluttershy bought just for _him_. "_My_ food!" Growling, Discord decided to give the tot a chance to repent as he held out his paw expectantly.

The filly stared at his open palm, but didn't even consider it, swatting it away with her tiny hoof as she clutched the pastry tighter, emitting a threatening growl. She twisted her snout away each time Discord tried to grab at it, and she fought to weakly kick away his prying hands.

With a fierce snarl, the draconequus dug his claw into the pastry, not even caring if he mutilated it, only wanting to get his possession away from her. The filly held strong, digging her teeth deeper into the flesh of the doughnut and rearing her head back.

Discord roughly wrenched it from her mouth, and tears stung the pony's eyes, her hungry stomach realizing it wouldn't be fed the needed meal and beginning to painfully gnaw at her instead. Angrily, she summoned as much strength as she could and gave his arm a fierce thwack with her hoof.

"Ouch!" The draconequus yelped, dropping the filly, who fell flat on her face. Rubbing his arm and hissing, Discord floated over the child, leering darkly, intent on teaching the impertinent brat a lesson. "Oh, I can swat too, you know," he seethed.

Rubbing her bleary, wet eyes, the filly blinked in confusion as a wide, red ping pong paddle appeared floating in front of her face. She backed up nervously, and the ping pong paddle casually levitated with her. As she tried to move forward, it blocked her. Any movement only made the paddle etch closer. Undaunted, the filly turned. That was a mistake.

The ping pong paddle swung back and connected hard with her rump, causing her to gasp and sprawl onto her stomach. She whimpered and tried to buck it away, but it sailed over her trembling legs, swatting her harder. Yelping, the child scrambled into the corner, burying her face into her hooves and the corner on the floor, weeping a frightened squall of tears into her hooves as the paddle continued spanking her.

Discord merely gave a satiated smile, relaxing back contentedly on a plush, pink cloud, folding his legs. "Perhaps this will teach you not to steal from the god of chaos~?" He smiled as the filly's cries became more pronounced, giving up on fighting the terrible punishment.

Fluttershy had expected a lot of bizarre sights to meet her eyes when she walked in the door. She was sure she'd find her poor bunny tossed somewhere in the corner as a hilarious prop, usually a cotton ball. Perhaps the walls would be dripping with fudge like last time, and he'd be there laying in it, making sticky fudge angels with his back. Oh, the pony certainly hadn't expected to find a child crying and cornered as she was beaten by the smirking spirit's magic.

"Oh!" the pony gasped, hooves flying to her face as she galloped towards the poor child, fiercely bucking the ping pong paddle (which promptly slammed into a yowling Discord's face), and taking the trembling foal under her wing.

"Who is she?" the pegasus gasped as the heavily breathing girl cowered under her wings, crouched low to the ground, sunset mane drenched with tears and sweat. "Where did you get her?"

The yellow foal scrambled under the saffron pegasus's belly, crouching underneath it and trembling in terror, looking with wet, wide green eyes at the spirit snickering above her. Fluttershy gasped, seeing the red sniffling face, and the equally red backside on her.

"Oh..oh, you jerk!" the pegasus shouted up at the flabbergasted spirit, draping a comforting hoof over the sobbing child. "You're such a big meanie sometimes, Discord!"

Discord's twisted muzzle dropped in shock at Fluttershy's words, mouth gaping as he tried to process some words. "Oh - oh, I'm the jerk?" he spluttered in rage. "I'm the bad one here? She was stealing MY food! She needed to be taught a lesson!"

"Not to the point of beating her!" Fluttershy retaliated angrily, ignoring Discord's spluttered snarls as she gently tried to console the child – who promptly darted out of her soft touch, scrambling under the couch and clutching onto the couch leg for dear life.

"Aww, it's alright, sweetie," the element of kindness softly cooed, bending down to the trembling girl's level. "Did the big bad spirit hurt you?"

By this point the exasperated spirit looked like he was malfunctioning as he spluttered and twitched in rage. "Wha – but – she – I – ARGH!" With a furious snap of his fingers he was gone and so was the edible mess that was the cottage's interior. Fluttershy only glared coldly at the spot where her angry companion had been. Good riddance.

"Are you hungry, sweetie?" she asked softly, trying to coax the petrified child out. Her voice should do that – it usually did with the rest of her animals. They'd crawl out fearfully, reassured by her gentle touch and voice. She lowered her head, wriggling it under the couch, only to receive a stinging hoof mark in the face.

Fluttershy vigorously rubbed the red print to soothe it, blinking several times before attempting it again, staying a further distance from the child. The wide jade eyes regarded her with fear, unblinking, her body flat to the ground like a cat.

Fluttershy pursed her lips, wriggling her face out from under the couch. The filly cautiously, curiously titled her head, watching the hooves as they moved farther away, towards the fridge. Likely to put the cinnamon bun away. She gasped when she saw the approaching hooves, and the pegasus snarled when Fluttershy got a very gentle hold of her tail in her mouth.

The whimpering child braced herself to be smacked at again, shutting her eyes and tensing every muscle. A sweet, warm aroma filled her nose, smelling of sugar and spices. When the girl opened her eyes an icing dripping cinnamon roll was being held out to her. The scent was tempting, her stomach giving a melodious hum, but the child was distrusting and backed away.

"No, it's okay. Nopony will hit you...Here."

After a few more cautious seconds, the foal angrily turned her head, and Fluttershy tried not to giggle as the hungry eyes betrayed the kid, constantly looking back at the treat. Within seconds, the girl had snatched up the sugary pastry and was tearing into it with her teeth. Fluttershy watched with growing concern as icing dripped down the pony's chin. Etiquette had seemed to go out the window with this kid.

"Oh my..how long has it been since you've eaten?" The girl's eyes lowered, but Fluttershy didn't need a response, only having to observe the thin belly, devoid of a kid's usually healthy, slight pudginess. Her coat and mane weren't fairing much better; both were greasy and caked with grime. Who knew where this girl had been and how long it had been since she had bathed.

"Are you aware you're covered in dirt?" Fluttershy asked softly, and the child seemed to lower her head in slight shame. "Y-you're a little..smelly," Fluttershy said quietly, chewing her lip. "Would you like me to bathe you?" At the narrowed, suspicious eyes, Fluttershy quickly rushed on. "It won't hurt, I promise. It will feel nice to be all clean again, and we can do it while I start boiling the pot for some nice hot soup."

The foal backed up from the pegasus a bit, crouching down and gazing inquisitively and apprehensively up at the gentle, compassionate face. She relaxed slightly at the question, having missed the feeling of nice, soapy water and cleanliness. When Fluttershy reached a hoof out to her she fiercely drew back.

The elder pegasus bit her lip, ears falling in distress. What had this child gone through to make her so distrusting? Quietly, the pony knelt down to the foal. "Oh, I know you are scared, but I _really_ think you should be carried. The bath is upstairs and I do _not_ want you attempting to climb steps without much in your stomach. Okay?"

The girl didn't respond, her jade eyes drifting to the wooden, creaking steps. They suddenly seemed so long and endless when she thought of climbing them. After several hesitant and contemplating moments the foal stepped towards Fluttershy.

Delighted that the pony was becoming a little more trusting, Fluttershy gently took a hold of the greasy, dirty scruff, grimacing from the sour taste and texture. Carefully, she carried the tot up the stairs, into their bathroom. She turned on the taps, letting the steam fill the bathroom.

"Now you wait right here while I boil a pot of soup for you." The pegasus grinned when a small pink tongue slipped from the corner of the girl's mouth, lapping hungrily over her lips.

After dicing potatoes, carrots and scattering them in a pot of boiling water, Fluttershy returned to find the filly fearfully eying the warm water and soap bubbles, even cowering in the corner.

"What's wrong, sweetie? It's not too hot, I promise." Fluttershy carefully advanced to the trembling child, smoothing a hoof over her yellow coat. The child tensed at the touch, but found herself relaxing to the consoling touch.

Fluttershy tried to take the foal into her mouth again, but the younger pegasus fussed, whimpered, and curled her legs up as she was dangled over the soapy water. "Sweetie, I promise water won't hurt you." The saffron pegasus bit her lip, deeply concerned at the absolute irrational _fear_ in the wide, pleading jade eyes.

The foal was trying to scramble away, but Fluttershy held on and managed to gently lower the tearful pony into the water. The girl gave a few squeaky whimpers, tears streaming in steady rivers, only beginning to calm when Fluttershy started gently scrubbing her.

The pegasus lifted the girl to scrub the muck out of her tail, fuming at the bright crimson marks – some bordering on purple as they turned into bruises – on the child's bum. She ran a gentle hoof over the inflamed area, but the girl tensed from the discomfort it brought over the stinging skin.

"Oh, that Discord," Fluttershy huffed, mostly to herself as she washed the shampoo from the child's mane. "I'm so, so sorry you had to go through that – he really can be a sweetie sometimes..and then he can be a jerk. He just doesn't like it when ponies take from him. I don't think he likes kids either."

The girl focused her wide eyes on Fluttershy as she spoke to her, standing up on her hind legs so the pony could scrub her back. Regardless, Fluttershy still needed to lean so far over she almost fell in. The girl was so tiny. If Fluttershy wasn't familiar with dwarf ponies like Pipsqueak, she'd estimate the kid was only about two or three.

As Fluttershy moved to scrub behind the child's ears, she seemed to have pushed some sort of button, or conducted some sort of magic. The girl fell into a state of bliss, head lolling against the caretaker's hoof, her wings raising up in happiness. The saffron pegasus caught sight of the gimpy, half formed wing and gasped. Noticing this, the foal ducked down in shame.

"Oh no, don't be embarrassed," Fluttershy pleaded, still trying to get over the heartbreaking shock of what she saw. "It's nothing to feel shameful about. You know, when I was younger I had really weak and shaky legs." She giggled softly. "I always fell down and had a hard time walking. They were really skinny and noodley. I looked like this!"

Throwing the sponge back into the foam, Fluttershy backed up from the tub, doing a perfect imitation of her impaired walking abilities, stumbling all over the place with a goofy grin. She was delighted when a small smile turned up on that yellow snout.

"See? They're nothing to feel sad about. Plenty of ponies have disabilities but it doesn't make them any less special."

The frown wrinkled back up on that snout. There was that word: 'special.' Oh yes – she heard that a lot from her mother and her father when she was younger and watching with disheartened eyes as fillies younger than her took to the sky.

Fluttershy gave the now sparkling coat a final rinse and lifted the child from the tub, swaddling her in a warm towel. She fit in the crook of her arm like a baby, her little face poking out, blowing a wet strand of hair from her eyes.

"Want to see if the soup is done?" Giggling at an eager nod, Fluttershy trotted back down the stairs, hurrying over to the bubbling, scalding pot. With one hoof she filled a ladle, dumping its contents in a bowl, while holding the child in another arm. Fluttershy gave it an experimental sip.

"What do you think, sweetie? Is it ready?" The pegasus watched in astonishment as the foal took a tentative lick – before nearly devouring the spoon. Both laughing, but sad the child was this famished, Fluttershy took that as a yes and carried the bowl to the table.

The foal hardly waited until the bowl was set on the table, mouth fumbling to latch onto the side and sip, causing the soup to slosh onto the table. Fluttershy watched with growing concern as the child practically stuck her face into the bowl, lapping it and disregarding the spoon as she guzzled the hot, comforting liquid down. Within seconds the bowl had been licked clean, and she had crawled across the top of the table, pulling an orange out of the fruit basket and ripping into it, the flesh of the citrus spurting all over the table.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy frowned, following behind the tot with a drenched cloth and wiping up the spills she made. She was determined to actually get an answer from her previous question. "How long has it been since you've eaten?" The sun yellow head bowed shamefully behind the fruit basket, and Fluttershy decided to try a guess. "A day?" A shake no. "Two days?" Another shake. Fluttershy was beginning to feel sick. "Three days?" A bit of hesitance; a nod.

Indeed the unhealthy, thin body was complimented with slightly protruding ribs that gave the older pegasus a clue that this child had barely eaten in longer than a few days. A few weeks was more like it. None the less, staying silent, Fluttershy just offered another cinnamon bun, watching the girl wolf it down in seconds.

"Do you have a name, sweetie?" Fluttershy watched the cinnamon, icing coated cheeks rise up from the plate of buns, the green eyes turning to her. The child opened her mouth, but the words died before projecting. Undaunted, she tried again, with no success or improvement. She stomped her hoof in frustration.

"No, it's okay.." Fluttershy said softly, figuring some sort of emotional or physical trauma had rendered the girl mute. "Don't force yourself to talk. How about just nod along with this question? Are you five?" The girl fixed her with a livid glare, making Fluttershy shrink back a bit. "O-oh, sorry. Six? Seven?" At the foal's nod, Fluttershy felt her heart sink. Seven years old and the size of a newborn pegasus.

The gentle interrogation over, the child went back to cleaning the rest of the plate, also hungrily gulping down a large glass of milk. Her belly full and content for the first time in weeks, her mouth stained with crumbs and icing, and her lids already dropping, she nearly fell asleep in the chair.

"Tired, little one?" Fluttershy asked quietly, correctly guessing that by the scuffed up hooves the kid had been on the road for quite some time. She moved forward, galloping towards the little girl before she ended up tumbling out of the chair. The child's chin flopped onto Fluttershy's back with the rest of her body, unconsciously snuggling into the warm, saffron fur as she slept.

Fluttershy glanced out the window; Luna's silver moon was slipping past the horizon and rising into ebony skies. All her animals were still asleep and Discord was probably out sulking somewhere. Gazing at the darkening sky made Fluttershy's own eyes begin to grow heavy. She cantered towards Discord's bed, figuring he wouldn't mind if the kid slept there for a while.

The foal slid limply off her back, awakening slightly as her head hit the soft pillows. Her bleary green eyes focused on the caretaker, sliding shut now and then.

"Tomorrow we'll find your Mommy and Daddy." Fluttershy stared, watching as the child's eyes opened a splint, a heartbreaking look overcasting them and her face, tears beginning to spill out as she gave the pony a sad look and then gazed mournfully at the sky.

Fluttershy wanted to cry herself. "Oh." That was all she said and all the girl heard before drifting off under the silk blankets.

Tears still dripping down her muzzle, the saffron pegasus sadly made her way through the front door, into the cool night air. She saw, but ignored the scaly burgundy tail from where Discord was lounging in a tree above. She made her way to the edge of the forest, plopping despondently onto her haunches.

Discord barely glared over at the hunched form from the corner of a hostile set of red eyes. So she was crying, so what. What else was knew? The stupid pony actually took the side of a thieving brat over _him!_ Oh sure he was a jerk, but this was the one time _he_ didn't think he had been. If _Aegeus_ caught _him_ stealing then Equestrian gods help him!

_Despite being maternal and kind, she'd never last as a mother,_ Discord thought with a snort. The hopeless filly barely knew how to discipline. He tried to turn away, but found his dumb eyes looking back at the tears no matter how much he willed them to obey _him. _Finally, loathing himself, Discord floated over.

"What's wrong? Did the little baby pony steal all your favorite raisin bread and make you cry?" he mocked. The mean smirk fell when the sniffles coming from his caretaker heightened. "What is it, Fluttershy? Whatever it is it's your own fault for not kicking out that brat!"

Fluttershy wanted to turn and shout at him for his insensitivity, but she instead only wiped her nose and sniffled a small sob. "She's an orphan."

For the smallest, half a millisecond a flash of concern went across the belligerent ruby eyes. "Oh." Run away, child gang of thieves, or just a bad kid he expected; orphan he did not. "How do you know? Did she say that?"

"She didn't say anything, and I don't think she can. She teared up and looked at the sky when I mentioned looking for her parents with her."

The draconequus laid back against the grass, folding his arms behind his head and looking inquiringly at his caretaker. So she was a run away orphan. What were the odds the kid lost both parents! Well, he knew how that felt more than anypony.

Come to think of it, he had noted the unhealthy black sag to the dull green eyes, and the way her stomach seemed sucked in painfully, trying to endure probably a while from being fed. The touch of guilt glimmered in his cold heart briefly. The kid was probably too weak to endure a beating like that. He could have really hurt her. Oh well, it was the stupid thing's fault for not just asking for a bite to eat. After all, it was sadly unfortunate (to him) that there were hardly any mean ponies in this insufferable land.

"What do we do with it?" From the corner of tear filled, angry blue eyes Fluttershy glared and he corrected himself in a huff: "her. What do we do with her? She probably ran away from some orphanage. In my time of rule and touring Canterlot as a kid I saw a few pretty gloomy looking ones."

"I have no way of knowing if she did run away from an orphanage or not because she can't talk!" the pegasus sighed, and Discord chortled.

"Ohohoho, I wouldn't say she's completely mute, my dear~" the draconequus snickered gleefully, his embodiment of chaos and disharmony showing in his delight at the child's misfortune. "She certainly made quite a noisy fuss when the ping pong paddle was whaling on her." His laughter died into a pout when his equine caretaker glared sternly at him.

"I don't ever want you doing that again. I'm pretty sure she's been through a lot and she was just too scared to ask for food. After all, she can't seem to speak, and the poor thing is just _petrified _of baths."

"All kids hate baths."

"No – I mean she was literally cowering and staring at the tub like..like it could kill her!"

Odd reaction, even to him. As a kid and even now the draconequus didn't care much for baths. He had simply loved infuriating Rain Drizzle with turning the tub water into molasses or honey, and blowing bubbles in it. He did the same to Fluttershy, who's reactions were simply hysterical. Fear though; it was never a fear to him or any typical kid as much as it was simply annoyance. Perhaps there was a deeper meaning to that.

Bah, he didn't care. "So where is she now?"

"Uhm..." Fluttershy's head had lowered a little, a pink flush curling over the butter colored face. She fiddled her hooves unconsciously, eyes averting awkwardly away from his narrowed ones. In a whirl the draconequus was at the window, face pressed up against the slick glass. He could already see the top of the curled orange mane illuminated in a speck of moonlight, and he saw her laying there peacefully on his pillow.

"She's in _my_ bed!" So first the stupid brat steals his food, gets him YELLED at, and now takes over his own _bed? _Oh, he really hated this kid now. Body hunched and tensed in rage, fists clenched at his sides, the spirit let an angry snarl tear out from behind his fangs.

"I didn't think you'd mind!" Fluttershy exclaimed helplessly, trying to put a gentle hoof on his back. He roughly jerked away from her, taking the liberty to slap it with his tail as he turned and scaled into his tree.

"No, I don't mind," the draconequus said casually through tightly ground teeth. "I'll just sleep in a tree or something!"

"Oh, Discord, don't be so selfish! You can set up a hammock in my room." The cinnamon colored back was turned to her, wings snapping angrily to his back, shoulders going forward as he crossed his arms and ignored her. Fluttershy snorted, stomping her hoof and angrily snapping "fine!" at his back.

The spirit watched with narrowed, hateful eyes as the pegasus trotted back into the cottage, evidently looking as if she wanted to shut the door quite roughly, but restraining herself so as to not wake up the little thief.

_Thief._ That's all she was to him. A thief and an attention hog. It barely processed in his mind that he was experiencing jealousy; perhaps one of the only negative emotions he hadn't ever felt before. To anyone it was difficult going through a period of time being somepony's soul concern and then having to abruptly split it. How was he supposed to get Fluttershy to enjoy his pranks, throw pies in her face and douse her in milk if she was taking care of a filly all the time? Oh, and he'd probably get something like "shhh! The baby is sleeping!"

Oh, GAG.

Sneering angrily, Discord flopped back against the tree branch and tried to summon ideas in his brain to rid them of this little vermin. Well, he could create the illusion of some sort of terrible, drooling beast to tower over her, panting and dripping saliva from needle sharp fangs. Ha! And he could enjoy watching the child running back out into the lonely wild where she belonged. Oh, or maybe summoning a bunch of spiders to crawl up on her bed. His head was getting heavy, quietly snickering to himself as dreams of tormenting the brat filled his head.

Something cried.

Discord twisted to bury his face in the uncomfortable, rough bark, trying not to whine as the wood scrapped thin layers of his top skin off. Why didn't he just take Fluttershy's offer and make a bed in her room? His body was crippled with terrible cramps, as if he had spent the past few hours sleeping in a small water bottle.

Something cried.

Argh, what was it? An animal? A bird? The wind? He groggily pushed himself to a sit, clearing the sleep from his eyes. When those bleary, mismatched crimson orbs fell on the wriggling and whimpering form in his bed they darkened hatefully. Oh, it was the stupid kid.

Discord snorted thoughtlessly, rolling his eyes and turning onto his side with a painful cringe. So the brat was having a bad dream. As if he cared; nothing she dreamed of could possibly be worse than the nighttime horrors that plagued his unconscious mind.

The tormented whines echoed through his head, making sleep difficult. With a growl, Discord summoned a pair of marshmallow (literally) earplugs and stuffed them in his ears. Noise dying completely, the spirit shut his eyes with a smile. As they had disobeyed earlier, his betraying eyes cracked open to look through the window. They slammed shut when his mind harshly scolded them. After only a second they opened again, and his brain couldn't will them to shut this time.

Groaning, Discord slithered to the edge of the tree branch, hanging part way off it and keeping his ears perked in alert. The child had already kicked off her blankets, tiny, stunted limbs flailing in panic and fear. Discord wanted so bad to ignore the shrill, squeaking cries and go back to sleep – it wasn't his problem the dumb kid was having a mental breakdown. He wanted to lay down and forget she was there. But he couldn't.

Her whimpering cries reminded him too much of Celestia.

Yes, the spirit recalled clearly how his former best friend sometimes crawled into his bed if he stayed the night in her room, weeping about some terrible dream and wanting comfort from him. The cries were so _annoyingly _identical that he couldn't ignore them.

_Eurrrgh, GAG,_ the draconequus thought, slapping a palm into his face and dragging it down his twisted muzzle. With a snap from his talon and a bright, golden flash of light he was in the living room.

The child's cries were even louder in the house; she looked so unbelievably tiny, almost shrinking into the soft mattress. Briefly, Discord considered a ludicrous prank of turning the bed into a soft marshmallow and watching her sink in between the mattress. That would have to come after.

Conjuring a small amount of power from his meager amount, Discord let the golden light flow to his fingertips, juggling the stream of power before managing to balance it. Gently, he tapped the sleeping girl's forehead with a finger, and a single ripple of light lit the room, as quick and delicate as a drop of dew hitting a pond.

The furrowed frown of distress relaxed and the corners of her lips turned into a small, contented smile as the frightening visions left her head. Her eye lids fluttered gently now and then, a soft, happy sigh escaping her, the light of the moon shining on to her serene face-

_Oh, GAG me,_ Discord thought with a grotesque sound. _Gag, gag, _gag _me with licorice whips and peanuts!_ And he promptly fell onto his belly by the bed, out before his head even hit the floor.

_(__Well now, I wanted to write something "Broken Spirit" related, but I also didn't want to write the next chapter yet. I looked over my old pictures of Little Marigold and thought "hmmm..."_

_Now, my baby's story is different than this, only by a little. For one I made her up both FAR before Pipsqueak came along (look at the date of my drawings if you no believe), and Discord wasn't in the original story. XD But I decided to do a story based on her, Fluttershy, and Discord. I also have pictures of little Mari in my gallery._

_To be honest I just think it'd really be cute and interesting to explore the relationship of little Mari and Discord. From hate and jealousy to probably unconscious, wayward caregiver? _

_This probably won't be TOO long of a fic and I honestly don't know if I'll continue it. I suppose I'll see how the reception is. Not many people love OC stories, but people seem to adore my "Broken Spirit" AU so we'll see where it goes.)_


	2. Chapter 2

Sleeping on the ground hurt if anything could be said about their eventful night before. His entire body ached, feeling like a screw turned too tightly as he tried to flex his stiff tail, body moving like something rusted and mechanical. Ouch.

The spirit rose into the air with difficulty, but his aching wings forced him back onto the ground on all fours, teetering in a subconscious and sore state. This wasn't his morning. The cold parting words with Fluttershy were the first to resonate through his head of all things and he wondered why. Perhaps it was because arguing with the pegasus was something he simply wasn't used to doing.

Indeed, although his antics managed to irk the pony quite a bit and the amount of punishments he had received had been countless, the two never shared mutual anger to each other, barely so much as even a spat on both ends. This felt weird and very gut unsettling.

Well... He had been angry long enough, and it wasn't as if he truly had a liberty to be so, other than his own selfishness. Fluttershy had done nothing wrong. Caring and loving a creature – she was just being Fluttershy! Besides, how was he supposed to drench his favorite pony with milk waterfalls and spend the day as usual in her shadow to prank her if they were fighting?

_Guess I better make amends. Oh, GAG._His tongue out so far he did gag, throat pressed to his uvula, the entity casually made his way out into the kitchen. His snarling stomach would have eventually propelled him to the kitchen anyways even if he didn't want to make up with her. He crossed the borders of the living room, into the kitchen.

There sat a tiny, still bundled and dazed little sun yellow filly, curled up in the back of his chair, trying to reach the table and access her breakfast. In his chair. HIS chair. Instantly the desire to make up with the pony dissipated in a hateful glare as he snapped himself away with a bright, angry flash. Neither of them noticed.

"Do you like the pancakes?" Fluttershy's hopeful lilt made the girl's head lift from where it was practically buried in the soft, plush cakes, the pieces of batter dripping off her baby face as she nodded rapidly. "I made them myself."

The filly gave the caretaker a small, grateful smile, lapping up the rest of her orange juice and sitting back with a full, jiggling, and bouncy belly. Days ago she thought she'd never eat, and now she was certain she didn't want to eat for a while. She'd been stuffed far more than her stomach's capacity could probably take.

Deciding to attempt it once more, Fluttershy tentatively touched the girl's back. She flinched fiercely, seemed to consider it, and then she shied away, backing up in the chair and shrugging off the hoof.

"Okay, you aren't ready for that." Fluttershy pushed the dishes into the sink, swiping her dish cloth over the table to clean it. She paused, seeming to be inspecting the cloth. A flash of warm memories when Discord always grabbed and hid it on her ran through her head, but she shook it off. Equestria, she was pathetic. They had only fought the night before and already she was "missing" him.

Hmph, she had other things to worry about; a bright yellow, tiny pony for example. "Do you want to go outside, sweetie? See, this time of day I usually care for my animals, and maybe you could help!"

Apprehension crossed the small yellow face, from her curved down mouth to her jade green eyes. She padded softly to the window, struggling to pull herself up enough to peer through the glass. After a few moments of gazing at the lush grass and fluttering birds she nodded.

* * *

><p>Fluttershy's gardens seemed to stretch on endlessly, vines of flowers and vegetables unraveling from the brown soil and stretching their limbs in the sun. Although Fluttershy could note the child was staring intently at the warm fruits, she wouldn't even glace at what a pony's eyes were usually drawn to: the flowers.<p>

"Still hungry?" the elder pegasus asked, giggling when the girl flushed a bit and scratched at her mane with her hoof. "I suppose I don't blame you. Full belly or not, looking at those yummy fruit make you feel even _hungrier._"

A wing extended from where it was snapped shut against her body, gently draping over the girl like a curtain and leading her on, towards a small patch of flowers where a few mice were nibbling on a flower's satin petals. Jade eyes widened and the girl scampered over.

"This is Mr. And Mrs. Squeakers," Fluttershy said, holding the tiny, fluffy creatures out on a hoof. Beady eyes gleamed at the filly and their whiskers twitched as the pegasus pat their heads. "If you want to help me you can change their bandages. But if you're uncomfortable doing that-"

Already the child was ripping into a medical kit and slicing through the bandages with her teeth, carefully wrapping them around the limp, stick like mouse legs. Beaming, already seeing herself in this girl, Fluttershy instead turned to the plants.

As the saffron pegasus approached the her garden, standing in the soil, she spotted the casually wiggling red tail and piece of white fluff from it flicking quietly. Determined to set things right, the pony calmly strode forward. Her mouth barely opened before he snapped his fingers and was once again gone.

Her delicate mouth scrunched up as the tears began to flow and soak her cheeks. The pegasus was about to full out sob and collapse weeping, but she changed her mind, spitting back the flow of tears and hardening her heart. He wanted to be a brat, then fine.

"Sw-sweetie, do you want to help me with the flowers?" Fluttershy watched as the sun yellow head suddenly shot up, eyes sharp. Taking that as a yes, the oblivious pony plucked a small marigold from the soil and trotted near the girl. The child backed away.

"Oh no, they don't hurt," Fluttershy tried to giggle, a little more than confused at the un-natural reaction to _flowers._ She held them out – a wind suddenly whipped them from her hooves as the blur of yellow swiped them and suddenly tossed them to the ground. Fluttershy watched with frozen eyes as the panting filly trampled them underneath her feet, ripping through the flesh of the petals with her teeth and literally littering the forest floor with an array of potpourri.

Finally, nearly traumatized by the sight the horrified Fluttershy had witnessed, trembling lips grasped the child and pulled her away from the mesh of yellow she was still trying to massacre. The girl thrashed and kicked, tears rolling as she tried to get back and murder the remains of the flowers, which were now no more than tiny yellow pieces of dust.

Tears making their way down her own cheeks, Fluttershy's teeth got a stronger hold on the girl's scruff and dragged her back to the mice. Once the pony realized she was no longer in the presence of the seemingly demonic flowers and back with the little mice, she calmed.

Still trembling, Fluttershy watched the child's mood and mental state gradually return to normal as she laid beside the mice, letting them crawl on her chest. The pain that had been in her eyes, the unfathomable rage, as if that one delicate little bud had killed her family. Shaking her head, Fluttershy tried to make sense of it all, unaware of the approaching lavender form.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight's soft and concerned voice quietly intoned, the sun's rays easily illuminating the tears on her friend's face with a soft yellow hue. "Are you alright?" No response for the first few minutes, and Twilight's eyes trailed to the tiny, _tiny_ yellow fluff ball, who only seemed a bit larger than the mouse.

"Oh, Twilight.. I..I didn't even see you at first. I'm sorry." As if the tears weren't already noticeable, Fluttershy swiped a saffron hoof across her eyelids, tiredly turning to her friend. "What's going on with you?"

"I should say the same thing." The unicorn's eyes never left the pudgy yellow ball. "Where did you get the baby? Oh no – I hope it isn't like the situation with Philomena where you thought she needed your care and took her." A blank look; a glare. "...Just checking?"

"She isn't mine." If the child wasn't hers, who's was she? "Well – maybe she's mine." Fluttershy almost laughed as Twilight's jaw dropped. "That's not-not what I meant... I don't know who's she is, and she isn't a baby; she's seven."

"She's _seven?_" Twilight's voice of booming shock alerted the girl, who scampered over, eyes slightly narrowed, having heard the unicorn's awestruck exclaim.

"Yes, she's sev-" Fluttershy's eyes widened and she gasped as the child gave her friend a hard thump in the leg with her hoof. Twilight's face contorted as she slightly doubled over. "Hey now, that isn't nice at all!" the pegasus lightly scolded, frowning at the girl. The smoldering green eyes narrowed before she returned to the mice.

"She's delightful," Twilight muttered out sarcastically, teeth clenched in pain as she tried to rub away the throbbing. "I guess she heard me call her a baby. How was I supposed to know she's seven? She looks like a-"

Furious violet eyes trailed silently over to the girl, observing her in quiet anger. She stared intently at the stubby, stunted limbs, and the wing that looked as if a hydra had gnarled it with its fangs. Anger simmered to nothing. "Oh wow.."

"The sad thing is I don't know if she's ever been shown love before. She looks at me all confused and uncomfortable when I so much as TOUCH her."

Twilight hummed in acknowledgement, nodding in understanding. "Sounds like someone _else _I know." She looked pointedly to where a pair of mismatched feet could be seen faintly through the trees. When she glanced back at her friend more tears were brimming. "Flutterhshy? Is something wrong with Discord?" Her friend turned away as an effort to hide the tears. "Did you two fight?"

"Something like that," the pegasus hiccuped, shamefully hiding her tear tracked face behind strands of her rosette mane. Twilight's gentle hoof brushed away her hair, exposing the wet, glassy eyes. When she tried to probe further, Fluttershy turned away.

Torn between verbally tearing apart the spirit and wrapping a hoof around her friend, Twilight's eyes darted as she bit her lip. "You know, I think I may stick around here for a while if it's alright with you. I-I mean I don't see you as often anymore." It was a good enough lie, and Twilight had no choice but to assume a sniffled squeak from the pegasus was a yes.

Backing away awkwardly, slowly, Twilight whirled with blazing eyes once she was out of earshot, storming through the trees, snapping several twigs as she barked up at the spirit lounging atop an old maple. "Discord, get down here now!"

There was a pause, a brief consideration, and then slowly Discord climbed back down, descending from several branches before landing on his feet. His visage was drawn back up to that cold disdain he always used when with her.

"What did you do to Fluttershy?"

After several moments of no movement the most fake, most wide grin snaked over his twisted muzzle. "Twilight, my favorite pony!" His voice positively _dripped _with sarcasm and malice. "What brings you here? Why, if I knew you were coming my dear, I would have made a lovely batch of cotton candy cream cookies~! Ever had any? They are simply div-"

"Yeah, save it Discord – I already know you hate me." It had been a year now with endless and futile apologies. Twilight had already forgiven herself for the incident; evidently it wasn't mutual. "I'll ask you again: _what _did you do to Fluttershy!"

Discord's ruby red irises deepened to a dark, belligerent crimson. "I've done _nothing_ to her! Get lost. In case you haven't realized, not in the mood for _company!_" he spat bitterly. Right when he crouched to scale his tree again a hard hoof clamped on his tail. Discord froze and Twilight panted quietly in fear.

"The only thing keeping me from turning your hoof into ice and smashing it with a hammer is little Flutter Butter..and the fact I don't fancy going back in stone." He focused his murderous leer on her. "You can thank Celestia for that. What do you want me to say? The worst I've done to her is ignore her."

And yet Twilight reacted as if he had told her he dunked her into a vat of acid. "You what? Why would you ignore her? You know how sensitive she is!" Discord tried to climb again, and Twilight was about to lash out with a spell, before she realized it would petrify him.

"Apologies for being the only one not positively in loooove with the new baby," the spirit drawled in a malignant tone, his eyes narrowed all the more balefully. Twilight easily recognized jealousy.

"Aha...I see."

"Yes, you see, good, good. Can I go now, oh little interrogator?"

"No."

Baring his snaggletooth against the rest of his teeth, Discord had to keep chanting a mantra of words to calm himself down and keep from turning the impertinent pony into some kind of dairy dessert. He wasn't in the mood to put up with this brat. "Well, what do you want?"

"...Are you jealous?"

"Of what? You? Yes, you're just lovely, Twilight Sparkle, but I really don't fancy the idea of being-" His snarky retort was cut off in a gargle of pain as the pony yanked him slightly to her, both seething eyes pressed against each other. Discord wrenched back and gave off a threatening growl.

"Answer me, Discord. Are you jealous?"

"..."

Now the tight frown on the unicorn's face wavered to something more of concern, voice soft as she spoke to the draconequus who now had himself slightly turned away at an angle, ears back. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

Finally, the unconvincing sneer spread back over his face as he gave an indignant snort, casually slamming a paw against the tree, something furry and tiny landing in his paw. "Jealous – pfft. I have little Chaos Junior here to keep me company. Why would I be jealous?"

Chaos Junior, a tiny, wide eyed brown squirrel looked curiously up at the draconequus and unicorn. He had gotten his name when Fluttershy took him in and he tore the cottage asunder. Discord of course named him; he was the only one of Fluttershy's little pets he liked.

Twilight sighed and took a light step forward, her eyes shining with understanding and deep concern. Oh gag. "Discord, it's alright to feel this way. It's perfectly natural, you know. Don't think it's not right for you to feel such natural-"

Discord cut her off with an abrupt snap. "Look, I don't need some sniveling little pony telling me how to feel. I decide that myself, if you don't mind. Now really, if you're going to force me to converse with you, why don't we tip the conversation to chocolate waterfalls~?"

"I really think you should talk to Fluttershy."

"About chocolate waterfalls? No, she knows enough."

"_Discord..._"

The entity gave an angry chortle, balancing the poor, frazzled Chaos Junior on a fingertip as he spoke dryly. "Ah yes, yes. I can see the conversation now!" The god of chaos cleared his throat dramatically and took the liberty to make his eyes wide, wet, and shiny. If Fluttershy saw them she'd melt. "Mommy, mommy, why are you spending more time with the new baby than with me? You're making me sad, mommy!" He ended his performance with a snort, glowering at the unicorn quietly, about to turn again. She wouldn't let him.

"I didn't mean like that, but Fluttershy doesn't know how you're feeling. If you want things to improve, tell her."

For a moment he actually looked serious, seeming to be letting things sink in. That illusion was broken as he turned to pet Chaos Junior's head with a coo. "Or I'll just stay here and be out of her way forever~" He smirked as Twilight whirled from him in disgust. Well, at least now he was alone. All alone. Completely alone.

Alone...

* * *

><p>A smile was still on her face as she pranced into the cottage and flapped her mismatched wings happily, watching the little mouse feet as they appeared with their chubby bodies. She loved taking care of the animals; helping the injured, needy creatures made her heart feel good. And made her belly feel rather hungry.<p>

The pegasus's prance fell into a trot as she neared the gleaming fridge once more. It had become her best friend, full of delightful and healthy treats, sugary molasses cookies that stuck to her rib cage like a warm hug on the inside.

The mice wanted the first pick, evidently scrambling their way to the fridge before she even reached it. She couldn't go as fast as them.

A cold red eye watched from around the corner, eyes narrowing hatefully when he spotted the tiny form toddling her way to his food. Perhaps he needn't talk to Fluttershy; frightening her himself would be so much easier. She'd run off, Fluttershy wouldn't see, and Discord could simply tell her she decided to leave.

It was right when her milky teeth closed the fridge by the handle, carrying as much as food as she could in her mouth as she turned to leave did the illusion of a monster jump at her. The pony scrambled back in fright, the creature's needle sharp fangs and sea of blood red eyes gleamed at her, as did dripping fangs.

After several seconds of trying to regulate her breathing, she bravely bent down, picked her food back up and began...trotting around Discord. Her head was turned to him, low to the ground the entire way, but she only casually left with the mice, trotting back to the living room.

Discord stared in shock. Surely this wasn't the cowering child that wept at his feet as she sustained a beating, or was apparently terrified of water. Yet a blood thirsty, towering beast didn't frighten her. It dawned on him.

_Ah._

Fluttershy probably told the girl to expect this from him, stupid, stupid pegasus. Fine, he'd try a different tactic. Snapping his fingers, Discord reappeared in front of her as a draconequus. Before he even opened his mouth she screamed and ran away with the recollection of the beating from the night before still in her head.

Wait a minute, so she doesn't scream at a monster, but she screams at the sight of...his face? He shut his eyes.

_Oh, CLASSIC._

* * *

><p>Taking care of her animals and gardens always helped Fluttershy forget her problems, make them disappear, but not today. They racked at her brain with the threat of fresh tears, especially as she thought of the draconequus that didn't even want to look at her. Fluttershy hadn't even realized she had begun to weep until a hoof wiped her eyes.<p>

"I hate seeing you do this to yourself. Fluttershy," Twilight's voice was barely audible, thin with pain at seeing her friend so torn up. How often did these two fight? They always got along. Quite odd since it was the spirit of kindness and the spirit of disharmony.

"I don't know what to do though, Twilight," Fluttershy wept, and the unicorn's arms were around the pony within two seconds, holding her close and trying to soothe her.

"You need to talk to him. Well, first, you need to get him to at least agree to listen to you." She rolled her eyes quietly to herself, remembering the spirit's childish display of trying to get away from her. Then again, he did hate her though, and he didn't exactly hate his sensitive little companion.

"Wh..what am I supposed to say?" Conflicting emotions crossed her face, mostly confusion. She had no idea if it was supposed to be her that needed to apologize or if it was supposed to be Discord. "Who's the wrong one here?"

Twilight hesitated. She wanted so bad to assure her best friend with hugs and a reassuring hoof that as usual it was that beast that was in the wrong, it was the mean one, not her. But... "Well, I hate to say this, but you both kind of are." The saffron's head shot up, splashing Twilight lightly with her tears.

"Wh-what?" Fluttershy whimpered. Twilight slipped an arm around her, trying to choose her words carefully.

"Discord needs to shape up and stop being so selfish, but you need to be a little more considerate to his feelings, Fluttershy." Twilight's voice was very soft, some words spoken slowly out of fear that it might launch the pony into further sobs. "Do you remember when I first got Owloysius?"

Dabbing the large tears off her face, Fluttershy swallowed a sob and nodded.

"Well, Spike was insanely jealous as all of us remember," Twilight murmured, her heart aching with the recollections. "Even though both he and Discord are intelligent enough to know they'll never be replaced, it's still upsetting when so suddenly they're not the only primary concern in their..guardian's life, I should say."

Fluttershy's brimming eyes scanned the wooded area with hesitance, watching soft, playful bunnies as they hopped along in the tall grass. "But he's never been my only concern. I take care of animals all the time and he knows that. He even shares a house with Angel..."

"Right," Twilight amended, "but you see, that's something he's used to and the animals don't usually take up all of your time, right? Besides, you release them and they go back to their own homes. We all know he doesn't care too much for anypony – with you as the only exception, so forced to live with one is probably miserable for him. Spirit of chaos or not, he does have feelings; we all do."

Squeaked out and rasped sobs sounded from the tight throat, tears rolling copiously when she realized her friend was right. "Oh, Twilight! I've been so insensitive to him, and...and that's not me." Her ears fell. She was the spirit of kindness, so why was she allowing herself to be the exact opposite?

"Easy, Flutt-" Twilight's hoof snapped back slightly as her friend turned tearfully to her, again spraying her with the wet trails on her trembling cheeks.

"No, it isn't okay! I..it isn't okay for me to be so..." She hiccuped a sob, unable to believe _she _was saying this: "insensitive. Oh, what if he hates me forever?" As the tearful imploration continued, Twilight merely stared. Here they all thought Rarity was the over dramatic one?

"I'm certain he won't," Twilight said flatly, gently trying to nudge the saffron body, as it seemed frozen on its own. "Perhaps you should go find him. If he tries to teleport again grab onto his tail before he can escape."

Seemingly frozen rigid still, Fluttershy gave a hesitant nod, but she didn't move an inch, frozen like a statue. She looked over at her friend with hesitant, anxious cyan eyes, and, with an eye roll Twilight began pushing her towards the forest with an encouraging hoof. A good mound of dirt had formed underneath the pegasus's hooves from where she had been dragged through before finally walking on her own.

_That pony, really,_ Twilight thought with an exasperated huff and minor distress, _if that's what she considers a fight then I don't know what she'd do if...she actually fought with him, rather than a small disagreement. _She really couldn't ever see them fighting though.

The increasingly graying skies seemed to match Fluttershy's mood, and she could already feel rain in the atmosphere, the distinct chill of a storm. She needed to herd both 'her kids' inside before they both caught sick.

"Discord?" The rim of the forest was always shaded black by trees, but the dark skies thrust the area into blackness. Peeking behind a soft emerald leaf was the tuft of white fur from his angrily twitching tail. The pegasus galloped towards him, not bothering to call his name.

The spirit barely turned his head when he heard the crunching of leaves and twigs under the clopping hooves, and the moment he raised a talon to snap his fingers Fluttershy galloped faster. It was right when her jaws latched around his tail that they both disappeared in a yellow light.

The teleportation spell brought on a wave of nausea, Fluttershy clenching her teeth harder on his tail, if just so she wouldn't throw up. Of course the draconequus yelled out in pain and furiously shook her off.

"Apparently ignoring you is an invite for you to snack on my tail and follow me relentlessly, hm?" Discord hissed, crimson eyes leering down at her. She was still curled sickly against the ground, trying to fight off the new wave of dizziness before standing.

"D-Discord.." The pony bit back the frightened "meep!" as he whirled on her, flaming irises gazing sharply at her, silently, waiting. "I-I..." When the glare deepened at her stuttering, tears filled the pegasus's eyes, and that seemed to soften his expression.

It was still terribly cold though. Why was he so angry with her? He had no idea. "I'm not exactly in the mood, my little pony. If you don't mind, trees of gumdrops are calling me." A sharp talon rose and snapped, tendrils of magic wrapping around some cherries and transforming them into gumdrops.

"But-" Fluttershy hopped back as his tail nearly whipped her in the face, trailing after him as he soared to the top of the tree and perched on a licorice-turned branch. A paw listlessly took a gumdrop, but instead of shoveling them into his mouth he merely brought it to his lips, looked at it, and tossed it silently, turning away.

Wow, he was upset. "Please...please talk to me." Her pathetic plea with soft whimpered sobs must have had some affect on him since he finally turned to her. After a few moments of pondering, his fingers snapped and he appeared in front of her in a flash of light.

The spirit stood against the tree, his gangly form towering over her, looking at her quietly. The anger in his face gradually disappeared as more giant tears fell down the quivering, saffron muzzle.

"I'm sorry..." She saw his ears raise inquisitively. He had no idea why she was the one apologizing, "I never should have assumed you'd just be okay with the little girl.. A-and I never should have gotten angry because you wouldn't accept her. I-I should not have been so forceful and just given away your bed and your seat at the table, and, and-" Guilt must have overtaken her because she finally inhaled a deep sob. "I-I'm so sorry, sweetie..."

The draconequus had his head turned by now and was about to shrug off her tears and take flight when he heard the ever familiar little whimpers and deep breaths that was a warning sign of what was about to happen. Cautiously, wincing, he turned to her. Sure enough, her face was scrunched up, her breath was coming fast-

"Oh no, Flutter-"

"I'm sorrrrryyy!" The draconequus moaned, tearing at his ears in agony from the shrill squeak of Fluttershy's bawling as she wailed, falling flat on her rump and sobbing. "I'm sorrrrrrryyy!"

The tears were just pouring down the saffron face now, and he could only cringe, feeling his gut twist uncomfortably, already meekly pleading with her. "Oh no, Flutter Butter, don't do this..."

"Waaaaaah!"

Uggghh, Equestrian _Gods_ for such a quiet and timid little thing when she got going she'd go for hours, heard for miles. "Fluttershy, _pleeease!_" All he got in response was louder cries, tears rolling down her face and drenching the suffering grass beneath her hooves. That's when something fell in front of the pegasus's face, dangling there casually in the air. Fluttershy looked up, swallowing her sobs in confusion.

It was a poorly stitched together rabbit plushie with a patch over its eye. A pirate bunny; of course. Fluttershy watched as Discord controlled it with a tendril of magic, not having enough power to do the marionettes yet, but enough to do a simple toy manipulation spell.

A relieved, warm smile snaked over his twisted muzzle, replacing the draconequus's usual dark and cold smirk. He rested his chin in the palm of his hand, watching the doll as it kicked its limp legs in a dance. Oh wait – one more thing.

Fluttershy tilted her head, staring as a golden cloud of magic poofed a top hat into existence. The funny, fancy bunny continued to dance through the air, and by now the pegasus was giggling loudly, trying to stifle them into her hoof. She tried to force the pout back onto her face, but when the bunny plushie began failing through the air like a headless chicken Fluttershy lost it, tumbling onto her back in laughter.

"Hehehe!" She uncovered her mouth and another stream of giggles fizzed out, constant squeaky hiccups because of laughter rather than the intensity of her sobs. After a few minutes, her hooves gently circled his waist. The spirit flinched fiercely for a moment, and then he began to gradually relax.

"I love you," the pony mumbled into his fur, the most tender, sweetest smile on her face.

_Yeeeech, gag me,_ the spirit thought, fighting with his uvula not to start gagging there on the spot. Still, he didn't shove her off. He was used to her dumb cuddles, but for some reason it felt...nice today. Maybe. Sorta. Perhaps.

"I guess I..acted terribly to you," he muttered, eyes adorably averted awkwardly away from those deep blue eyes. He never knew how to apologize right, always muttering out an awkward 'I guess I did this', and that was his way of apologizing, the closest he'd come to apologizing, so she took it.

"And I _guess_I was not very understanding," Fluttershy giggled quietly, affectionately rubbing her cheek against his torso. She giggled more when he tried to pull away from her, but she wouldn't let him. With a resigned whine the spirit allowed himself to be affectionately assaulted.

"So I guess the both of us need to maybe work on some things..." He hummed in acknowledgement, still turned away from her. After a few moments Fluttershy glanced down to the plush, ragged bunny over her leg. She gently scooped it up, turning it over in her hoof. "Oh, it's so soft.." She nuzzled it.

Suddenly, the wide beaded eyes turned bright red, and Fluttershy shrieked in horror as the plush animal leaped onto her face, gently latching tiny fangs into her entire snout. She screamed and flung her head wildly until dislodging the rabid stuffed animal, which disappeared in mid throw in a puff of yellow smoke. Panting heavily, Fluttershy whirled to the now hysterically laughing spirit rolling about on the forest floor.

"Bahahahaa! P-pe-her-iceless! Oh now, don't give me that look! You set me up for that one!"

The pony was mixing between a vengeful, glaring smirk and to start laughing herself. Being pranked by him, getting her revenge on him. Yep, it was all back to normal again. "Discord!"

Her butt wiggled, tail flicking menacingly as she slowly neared him. The alarmed draconequus skittered back slowly, holding up his hands in a "halt" gesture, that she of course ignored. A nervous giggle escaped his throat. "He-hey now! You don't even have the duster!"

The ever calm, horrifically silent and evil expression stayed on her face as she slowly approached him. "Don't need one~"

* * *

><p>"So..um, do you have anything you like to do in your spare time?" Twilight fiddled her hooves nervously, leg still dully throbbing from the kick earlier. Really, talking to this child was a waste of time. She wasn't able to talk back, and she pretty much completely ignored you as she continued on chasing mice in the grass.<p>

The girl glanced over at Twilight with the corner of a cold green eye. Her quiet, eerie glare stayed in the stony irises until the unicorn awkwardly turned her head. Eyes still narrowed in suspicion, as if to say "I'm watching you", the child returned to the animals.

"Um...okay, so, I – uh – I'm going to go check on...Fluttershy, and..yeah." Twilight skittered out of the girl's sight, exhaling a two minutes long breath of relief. She _hated _awkward silences.

The lavender unicorn trotted on through the wild life sanctuary, passing a barrage of Fluttershy's creatures as they scampered into the forest thicket to escape a coming rain fall. She wondered if Fluttershy had noticed the clouds yet. She wondered if those two had finally made up yet.

The faint, shrill sounds of shrieks and laughter made Twilight jump in alert, ears tilted forward, poised to listen out for a threat. As she neared the rim of the forest the laughter grew more distinguishable, followed by the _definitely_ ever familiar giggles. Twilight poked her head in through a bush, and her heart melted.

Discord had tried to catch her in mid leap, but ultimately the pony managed to wrestle him to the ground. Anyone would think he was stronger and that was true, but not when his defenses were reduced to nothing by the horrid-

"T-tickling!" Discord barely managed to gasp out through the laughter. No indeed, that pony did not need the duster. Her head nuzzling his belly and her hooves under his arms was maddening. "F-Fl-HAHAHAHA-shy, stop it!" Any attempts at trying to squirm away made those playful hooves increase in vigor and him to increase in laughs and screams.

"This is for last night!" Fluttershy laughed, and then she paused for a moment, giving him a second to catch his breath. "And it's for turning my new plates into bananas!" Right! She never did get him back for that one!

The spirit could only laugh, shriek, and fight with his talon and paw, but it was ultimately useless as she kept up the horrible onslaught. It rendered him completely helpless, nothing more than a multi colored ball of laughter. Laying there and forced to succumb to the pegasus sitting on him, he had no chance of gaining the upper hand, tail falling every time it wiggled towards the impish pony.

"O-hokay, okay!" Discord half wailed, half laughed, trying to extend his arm enough from where it was protecting his vulnerable skin to poof a white flag of surrender. The moment he summoned it he dropped it as he tried to protect himself from the assault. "Truuuce! Truhuhuhce!"

The assault at last ceased and Discord used that few moments to gasp in air and snicker further, especially as the pony playfully probed his quivering body. His tail flicked her off, and she tumbled into the soft grass at his side.

"S-so, does that clarify I still care about you?" Fluttershy teased playfully, and he chortled, mismatched hands going behind his head.

"Indeed. I can check the horrid, relentless, brutal and daily tickle tortures from Flutter Butter off the to do list~"

"So..." Fluttershy had held off really asking anything about the girl, not wanting to launch him into another bad mood. He seemed so happy right now and she didn't want to ruin it. Or worse, cause another fight. "Will...you at least try to be nicer to her?" He fell silent and she shut her eyes, waiting for the blow up.

"I don't exactly tolerate ponies well..." His voice wasn't angry, nor snappy, more so toneless and casual.

"You tolerate me."

"I have to, I live with you. I'm forced to tolerate you." He broke off into a small laugh as the pegasus playfully pushed against his chest with her hoof and he corrected himself. "Fine, fine, I tolerate you, but it took a while to get used to you." He gave another laugh as she jumped and gnawed on his tail.

"You are really digging yourself a grave.." She nudged him to his feet, and after rolling around in the grass for a few moments Discord complied. Fluttershy's ears fell back against her head in annoyance when she looked at all the grass in his mane.

"Shall we go then~?"

There was a sudden, fierce crack of thunder, causing the butter colored pegasus to scream and scramble underneath his tail in fear. Discord snorted, but before he managed to snicker a streak of lightning split the air with a blinding flash, seemingly inches away from his face. He bolted, the pony still holding onto him.

In a race with the rain, Twilight had scooped the little squirming, yellow ball into her mouth as the water tumbled down into the earth. Fluttershy and Discord squeaked in discomfort from the cool sting of the pelting rain, dashing inside the cottage.

They were already soaked and shivering, so there was no point in attempting to cover themselves from the water as they slipped through the window. A large towel was levitated to them by Twilight, easily wrapping around both bodies and sandwiching them together.

"I do hope the animals made it home in time," Fluttershy mumbled, a hoof pressed to her lips in worry. "Maybe I should go out and see.."

"There's no need to," Twilight said, towel drying a protesting filly, needing to hold her down to get her to hold still. "Animals have senses that know when rain is coming hours before it happens. They scurried home ages ago."

"Oh, I suppose.." Fluttershy's ears suddenly perked in alert at the desperate knocking at her front door. The sound was made by something tiny and soft. As the pegasus flew open the door, she shrieked as a sopping wet Angel bolted into the house, shivering.

"Bahahaha!" Discord was already on the floor, the towel covering and muffling him. "Look at the little vermin – he actually looks like a drowned rat! Hahahah!"

Averting her attention away from the snickering Discord, Fluttershy merely swaddled her bunny up in a towel and blankets, cradling him against her chest. A pair of malicious, beady eyes glared over at Discord through the folds of the fabric, and Discord threateningly raised a talon in response. So this was met by Fluttershy giving murderous glares to them both.

Observing the bizarre staring competition, Twilight and the filly exchanged looks of confusion. "Mind if I stay here for a bit?" Twilight asked, shaking the mud off her over the mat. "It's a little...too wet for me to go home right now, I should say."

"So go take refuge under a tree or something," Discord muttered mockingly, nastily, only to yelp as Fluttershy gave him a warning swat with her hoof. "Oh yeah, sure, sure -you can stay with us. The very thought of spending a day with you, waiting out the rain _fills_ me with incomprehensible _joy._"

* * *

><p>It was already pitch black by the time the rain finally lessened, creating a curtain of mist that shrouded the moon over the cottage and made a gentle, rhythmic pattering on the windowpane. Twilight had offered to leave when the fierce downpour became more docile, but Fluttershy still feared her friend would catch a cold. So Twilight was staying the night.<p>

Of course with Twilight taking a cot in Fluttershy's room, Discord was stuck with the stupid kid beside him. Oh well, at least he didn't need to share his bed. Fluttershy had fashioned a tiny bed for the tiny thing bundled on the floor.

"Well, you've had a big day," Fluttershy said softly as she pulled the blankets up over the child's chin. She nestled into her pillow, bright green eyes gazing up at her new caretaker. She yawned quietly, swaddling a bit of the blanket around her hoof to snuggle.

"Played with animals, tended to animals, got caught in a storm.." Fluttershy shared a quiet giggle with the child, lightly reaching out and touching her forehead. She waited for the girl to pull away, but she didn't.

Those wondrous, jade eyes were locked on the compassionate blue ones, head still tilted in lasting confusion of why this pony was being so kind and loving to her. Jumbled gratitude was tangled at the end of her tongue, but she wasn't able to voice it. Quietly, she touched the saffron hoof, and a subtle bolt of electricity went through both hearts.

Fluttershy found herself nearly getting pulled into those wide eyes, practically vortexes of emotions as she held onto the maternal hoof. "W...well, good night, sweetie." When Fluttershy attempted to pull away the hoof held firmly. She tried to gently tug it, and it was only when a soft mumble came from the girl that Fluttershy spun around, absolutely _shocked._"What...what did you say..?"

The mouth tried saying the words silently, getting out a few vowel sounds, before at last the dry crackle that said just how long it had been since this child spoke sounded in an angelic whisper.

"M-Marigold. My name...my name is Little Marigold."

* * *

><p><em>("Why it's Mr. and Mrs. Squeakers. They live in your sneakers. " That's what I thought when I wrote that part.<em>

_So yep, Fluttershy and Discord bonding, daaaaw. And look, Marigold SPEAKS.)_


End file.
